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No Inquiry
13 years later
12th February 2002 --
We, the undersigned international and domestic NGOs, deplore the UK
Government's failure to initiate a public judicial inquiry into the full
circumstances of the killing of human rights lawyer Patrick Finucane 13 years
ago. Patrick Finucane was shot dead on 12 February 1989 by Loyalist
paramilitaries; since then, evidence has emerged which strongly suggests that
there was official collusion by both the army and the police in his killing, and
a subsequent cover-up. The UK government has steadfastly resisted repeated calls
for a public judicial inquiry into all aspects of his killing, including the
allegations of collusion and cover-up. Calls for an inquiry have come from the
UN Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers, international
and domestic NGOs, the Finucane family, the House of Representatives of the US
Congress, the Irish government, and over two thousand national and international
lawyers.
Despite the ongoing police investigation into Patrick Finucane's killing --
which to date has not resulted in successful prosecutions against any of those
involved -- we continue to urge the UK government to establish immediately such
an inquiry because we believe that it is the only mechanism which could provide
an effective and public investigation into the serious allegations in this case.
William Stobie, a key witness in connection with the case, was murdered in
December 2001, and other key witnesses are in fear for their lives. Vital
evidence has already disappeared. We are particularly concerned that the longer
the government deliberately delays, the greater the risk that the future public
inquiry will be hampered.
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